Tombstone

Tombstone
Elixir Cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Building
Arena	Bone Pit
Release Date	4 January 2016

“Troop building that periodically deploys Skeletons to fight the enemy... and when destroyed, spawns 3 Skeletons! Creepy.”

The Tombstone card is unlocked from the Bone Pit (Arena 2). It is a building that spawns one Skeleton every 3.1 seconds. The Tombstone spawns 3 extra Skeletons upon its destruction. A Tombstone card costs 3 Elixir to deploy.

Strategy

• The spawned Skeletons are very effective at distracting high damage, slow hit speed enemy units such as the P.E.K.K.A., the Prince, the Mini P.E.K.K.A., and the Giant Skeleton. This is especially effective against units that target buildings, such as the Giant and Golem — the Skeletons spawned after the Tombstone's destruction can heavily damage, if not completely destroy, the unit.
  • In the case of the Golem, the Golem's death damage may defeat the Skeletons and the Golemites may deal some damage to the tower.
  • It can also distract other units for a while, such as the Princess or Mortar.
  • If any other ranged troop is locked onto a Tower, the player can use the Tombstone to push the troop so it retargets on to the Tombstone. This cannot be done with any defensive building as they do not have a large enough hitbox to push the troops, but the Tombstone works because the spawned Skeletons have enough hitbox space to push the troops. The Skeletons will then chip away at the troop's health.
• As a general rule of thumb, all buildings except for the Elixir Collector should be placed near the center of the player's territory so that enemy troops are drawn further away from the player's Princess Towers, while keeping them close enough so that both Princess Towers can assist in chipping down the troops. A placement 4 tiles from the river staggered into the lane of the player's weaker Princess Tower is sufficient against building targeting troops.
• If the opponent plays their Hog Rider at the edge of the arena to bypass the player's Tombstone, they can place the Tombstone one tile higher to catch it every time. However, this makes the Tombstone much more vulnerable to being sniped by ranged units across the river.
• The Tombstone can spawn up to 15 Skeletons, 12 of which are spawned normally over the lifetime of the Tombstone. It then spawns 3 more when it is destroyed. A Skeleton Army costs the same amount of Elixir and also spawns 15 Skeletons, but a Tombstone is not as vulnerable to splash units or spells as the Tombstone's Skeletons spawn periodically as opposed to all at once.
• The Tombstone is rather ineffective against Bowlers and Executioners, since their projectiles have the ability to not only destroy the building but also to destroy the recently spawned Skeletons.
• Do not place this card in a lane offensively without any support since the Skeletons it spawns get destroyed by Crown Towers in one shot and do not function well as cover troops.
• The Log can be an excellent counter to the Tombstone. If timed correctly, it can not only destroy the Tombstone but also destroy the Skeletons that spawn upon its destruction.
• If the player does not have The Log, Arrows work as a good substitute as they do roughly the same damage. However, it is more expensive and it is harder to time them to destroy the Skeletons spawned upon the Tombstone's destruction.
• Another alternative to The Log is the Fireball which can instantly destroy the Tombstone. However, this is a negative Elixir trade of 1 unless other troops or buildings are also damaged. The Fireball will also not destroy the Skeletons that are spawned upon its destruction.

History

• The Tombstone card was added with Clash Royale's soft launch on 4/1/16.
• On 9/2/16, the Chest Rewards & Card Balance Update decreased the number of spawned Skeletons when destroyed to 4 (from 6).
• On 19/2/16, a Balance Update decreased its lifetime to 40 sec (from 60 sec).
• On 18/5/16, a Balance Update increased the Skeletons' hitpoints and damage by 5%. In addition, the hitpoints of the Tombstone were increased by 10%.
• On 4/7/16, a Tournaments Update increased the Tombstone's hitpoints by 9%.
• On 24/8/16, a Balance Update increased the Tombstone's spawn speed to 2.5 sec (from 2.9 sec). Between this change and the next, it spawned 16 Skeletons instead of 14.
• On 30/11/16, a Balance Update decreased the Tombstone's spawn speed back to 2.9 sec.
• On 5/11/18, a Balance Update decreased the Tombstone's spawn speed to 3.1 seconds, and reduced the Skeletons spawned upon death to 3 (from 4). The card's flavor text was likewise updated.

Trivia

• The Tombstone is one of the 13 cards associated with Skeletons, including the Bomber, Skeleton Army, Witch, Bomb Tower, Giant Skeleton, Balloon, Guards, Skeleton Barrel, Graveyard, Wall Breakers, and Skeleton Dragons.
• The Tombstone and the Cannon are the cheapest buildings, costing only 3 Elixir. The Tombstone is also the cheapest spawner.
• The Tombstone's appearance is inspired by the Halloween Headstone obstacle from Clash of Clans.
• The Tombstone is the building with the lowest health. Even Arrows can significantly damage the Tombstone.
• The Tombstone has the fastest spawn rate out of all of the spawner cards.
• This building loses the least hitpoints per second, at 12.8 hitpoints per second at max level.
• If three Skeletons cost 1 Elixir and the Tombstone costs 3, the Tombstone needs to spawn at least 5 Skeletons before its destruction to be worth more than the three Skeletons.
• It is one of the four Skeleton spawners, the others being the Witch, the Graveyard and the Skeleton Barrel.

Statistics

Tombstone Attributes

Cost	Spawn Speed	Target	Deploy Time	Lifetime	Type	Rarity
3	3.1 sec	Ground	1 sec	40 sec	Building	Rare

Skeleton Attributes

Hit Speed	Speed	Range	Target	Transport
1 sec	Fast (90)	Melee	Ground	Ground

Card Statistics

Level	Tombstone Hitpoints	Skeleton Hitpoints	Skeleton Damage	Skeleton Damage per second
3	240	38	38	38
4	264	42	42	42
5	290	46	46	46
6	319	51	51	51
7	350	56	56	56
8	384	61	61	61
9	422	67	67	67
10	462	74	74	74
11	508	81	81	81
12	558	89	89	89
13	614	98	98	98